Interview: Ferenc Török of "1945" on making a Western about the aftermath of WW2

by Murtada Elfadl

On a summer day in 1945, an Orthodox Jewish man and his grown son return to a village in Hungary while the villagers prepare for the wedding of the town clerk's son. The townspeople – suspicious, remorseful, fearful, and cunning – expect the worst and behave accordingly. The town clerk fears the men may be heirs of the village's deported Jews and expects them to demand their illegally acquired property back.

In the new film 1945 director Ferenc Török tells the story of a society trying to come to terms with the recent horrors they’ve experienced, perpetrated, or just tolerated for personal gain. Based on the short story ‘Homecoming’ by Gábor T. Szántó and shot in gorgeous black and white cinematography, 1945 is a historically detailed drama that plays like a ticking clock Western. We recently spoke to Török in New York.

MURTADA ELFADL: I’m curious about the inception of the project. How did you come about it?

FERENC TÖRÖK: I read the short story by Gabor in 2004. It was visual without too much dialogue, but I thought there wasn’t enough for a feature. The timing especially was good - 1945 in the summer, after the war. It takes place in only a 2-3 hour span of time, like an old greek drama, Antigone or something. Like a western. I’ve always wanted to make a movie in real time with different points of view from different characters like a Robert Altman movie.

You mentioned westerns, I thought of High Noon while watching because of the ticking clock structure...

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Interview: Karen Allen on 'Year by the Sea' and How She Grew Up Being Like Marion Ravenwood

By Jose Solís.

Karen Allen stars in "Year by the Sea," opening next Friday

In Year By the Sea, Karen Allen plays author Joan Anderson, whose memoirs served as the inspiration for a film that asks what happens to women after their kids leave. For Anderson the answer came in a trip of rediscovery that took her from her home, to a small town in Cape Cod where she learned how to feel truly alive again. Allen’s portrayal of Joan reveals new layers in her work, she has always been compulsively watchable onscreen, but as the quiet Anderson she is absolutely luminous. Watching her in scenes opposite Yannick Bisson who plays the sexy fisherman Joan flirts with, she shows us that sensuality should not be relegated to 20-something, scantily clad female characters, and in scenes where Joan spends time with her friends, we crave for more fiction where women of a certain age get to be leads, not supporting characters.

I spoke to Allen about playing Anderson, how the book helped her develop the character, and what are some of her favorite scenes in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Read the interview after the jump...

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Interview: Grace & Frankie's Emmy-nominated costume designers

by Nathaniel R

One of the most satisfying moments of Emmy nomination morning was the contemporary costume nomination for Grace & Frankie. The Netflix sitcom starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin is hot off its third and best season. The writers and creative team seem to know the characters and their interpersonal dynamics, in and out at this point. That intimacy is abundanctly evidence in the terrific costuming. Until the television Academy split off their costume design category into period and contemporary, their was little opportunity for designers who specialize in contemporary clothing to be honored no matter how strong their work - exceptions like Sex and the City were all too rare.

I had the opportunity to discuss Grace & Frankie's worthy and vibrant work with its three nominees Allyson B Fanger the costume designer, Heather Pain, her assistant costume designer, and Lori DeLapp the costume supervisor. Their overlapping answers, despite their separate duties, and light ribbing over the abundance of statement piece jewelry worn by Frankie were ample evidence that they're totally in synch.

That's true whether or not their subjects Grace (Jane Fonda) and Frankie (Lily Tomlin) are seeing eye to eye in any given episode...

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Interview: '4 Days in France' Director Jérôme Reybaud on Grindr and the Sensuality of Syntax

By Jose Solís

Courtesy of Cinema Guild

Jérôme Reybaud 4 Days in France (which I reviewed here) is a sensual travelogue that follows Pierre (Pascal Cervo) a privileged Parisian man who leaves his lover (Arthur Igual) behind to go on an aimless road trip into the French countryside accompanied only by Grindr and his desire. An evocative, funny, and quite sexy film, 4 Days in France is surprisingly Reybaud’s directorial debut, quite the feat given how secure he is in his choices, and how much he relies on elements - gay sex onscreen, older female characters, poetic dialogues - that would make other filmmakers run for the woods, no pun intended.

As the film opens in New York and select markets in the US, I spoke to Reybaud about his bold directorial choices, his fascination with online dating, and how he ended up casting a Tony nominated legend.

JOSE: The first time I saw the film I was struck by how little it seemed the audience around me knew about Grindr, I’m pretty gay so I know it very well, but others seemed baffled about an app like it existing. Have you encountered that reaction at all?

JÉRÔME REYBAUD: Yes! I don’t have Grindr or a cell phone myself, but I didn’t expect the Grindr ignorance I’ve seen with some Parisian or NY guys. I assumed a heterosexual couple in provincial France wouldn’t know it, so I added a little information about the app for people who wouldn’t know what it was.

[Read the rest of the interview after the jump]

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Interview: Emmanuelle Devos on Playing a Grieving Woman in 'Moka' and Looking Back at Two Decades of Work

By Jose Solís.

 

Emmanuelle Devos puts her sunglasses on. We are sitting in a room surrounded by marble busts and large windows, and she finds the light too bright. There surrounded by art pieces and posters of her new film Moka, she has never looked more like a movie star. And yet, her effortless grace and warm smile make her equally earthy. She speaks in a soft voice, laughs a lot, and has bright answers to all my questions. She was in New York to celebrate the opening of Frédéric Mermoud’s Moka, in which she plays Diane, a woman trying to avenge the death of her child at the hands of a merciless driver. She comes to believe she found the culprit and it turns out to be Marlène, played by Nathalie Baye. What follows is a psychological game in which we see Diane become both appalled and attracted by this woman.

Besides the opening of Moka, Devos is the center of a retrospective at FIAF’s CinéSalon, which over the course of the summer will screen eight of her best known works including Read My Lips, Violette and My Sex Life...or How I Got Into an Argument. I noticed Devos was using a Manhattan Theatre Club plastic cup as a repurposed mug for her herbal tea (you gotta love that unlike most patrons who trash those immediately after consuming their beverages, Devos wanted to extend its life) and upon finding out she had attended a performance of The Little Foxes I asked her what she thought about the play...

Read the interview after the jump. 

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